Which Would You Choose...

[MissMolly08]

I know this is a personal preference thing, I am just curious what others would choose.

I know some people choose not to feed things like carrageenan and by-products which are in a lot of lower grade foods. I also know that most agree that rotation/variety is best. So I am curious... if your budget only allowed for ONE of these circumstances, which would you choose and why?
1) Stretching your budget by adding a lower end food such as Friskies into your rotation for a mix of high and low quality foods.
2) Picking a middle of the road food and feeding ONLY that, no rotation.

 

[bonepicker]

I'm a firm believer in rotation due to recipe changes, boredom, recalls, allergies! I would rotate friskies pates in to save money, no problems.

 

[lisahe]

I would definitely also prefer adding in a lower-priced food. If it were for our cats (they have sensitive stomachs) I'd choose byproducts over carrageenan and try not to feed too many foods with high phosphorus levels. (One of the benefits of rotations is balancing risk, though, so if the higher-priced foods are low/moderate in phosphorus I wouldn't worry about it.) I really don't have a problem with byproducts, particularly since certain ingredients considered byproducts (like bone and organs) are in the raw foods we feed.

 

[bonepicker]

I would definitely also prefer adding in a lower-priced food. If it were for our cats (they have sensitive stomachs) I'd choose byproducts over carrageenan and try not to feed too many foods with high phosphorus levels. (One of the benefits of rotations is balancing risk, though, so if the higher-priced foods are low/moderate in phosphorus I wouldn't worry about it.) I really don't have a problem with byproducts, particularly since certain ingredients considered byproducts (like bone and organs) are in the raw foods we feed.

I agree

 

[MissMolly08]

Thanks for sharing your opinions. I'm just trying to get an idea what other people would do and trying to figure some stuff out. Every time I think I have something figured out, my rotation seems to take another hit .
I was feeding 50/50 wet and dry with a rotation of 4health, FF classics, Merrick rabbit, Sheba and ProPlan True Nature. The Sheba got cut when they discontinued the cans because the "perfect portion" trays are expensive!
Then my cat decided that she doesn't like shredded foods and started only licking the gravy off some of the 4health foods so that dropped us down from 4 flavors to only 2 of that. I was feeding their dry as well so it was worth the trip but now I'm trying to move to an all wet diet and hate making the drive to Tractor Supply just for a few cans of wet food...
Along with the move from 50/50 to all wet, I started replacing the FF with Friskies since Friskies is cheaper and bigger cans.
Today, I see that the price of ProPlan True Nature went up on Chewy! So that is out now too....
I'm left with Friskies and Merrick rabbit here right now which means a very heavy reliance on the Friskies because the Merrick is more a treat since it's expensive but my cat loves it.
I'm just getting frustrated at the idea of having to build a new rotation from scratch!

 

[MissMolly08]

That makes me wonder something else... Since wet food is said to be better than dry, would it be better to feed the same wet food everyday or to feed a rotation of wet with some dry?

 

[Vega's Dad]

Carrageenan is a deal breaker for me, based on what I have read.
By-products are OK, according to the definition from AAFCO.

 

[MissMolly08]

Carrageenan is a deal breaker for me, based on what I have read.
By-products are OK, according to the definition from AAFCO.

So if your budget meant you either had to feed carrageenan, had to feed dry food or had to feed 100% Fancy Feast (the only cheaper food I have found without carrageenan)... which option would you choose?

 

[Vega's Dad]

So if your budget meant you either had to feed carrageenan, had to feed dry food or had to feed 100% Fancy Feast (the only cheaper food I have found without carrageenan)... which option would you choose?

I do feed FF regularly. My girl doesn't like any "healthy" food. I have to mix Boreal with FF to let her eat.
I avoid any high end food with carrageenan.
I do feed Orijen dry food (I'm in Canada ) between two meals. I add up to equal volume of water to wet food, so, water intake is not a problem.

 

[lalagimp]

I don't really have an issue with byproducts but I don't do rotation. If I find something they like, I stick with it. I received a variety pack of Blue Instinct for the girls to try and I'm pretty sure it had carrageenan in it. I don't know if that had any influence on the way it tasted, but the girls did not like it. I found a food without fruits or vegetables in it but I don't know if the girls will eat it and it's only by the case, so I haven't bought any. What they're eating right now has peas and carrots. I've also looked at cans by how big they are and how many calories it contained. Wellness looks like a value because it's like a 12 oz can, but the calories I think were under 500 so they would have to eat a ton more. Their current cans are 5.5 oz and 200 calories. Our cans run from $1.80-2.30 per can depending on what discounts I can get. And I still put out dry. Really high calorie/high protein/low carb/expensive dry.

 

[lisahe]

So if your budget meant you either had to feed carrageenan, had to feed dry food or had to feed 100% Fancy Feast (the only cheaper food I have found without carrageenan)... which option would you choose?

I know you didn't ask me , but if those were my choices, I'd feed Fancy Feast Classics but keep an eye out for sales or other foods at the same price (on sale, with coupons, etc.).

 

[MissMolly08]

I know you didn't ask me , but if those were my choices, I'd feed Fancy Feast Classics but keep an eye out for sales or other foods at the same price (on sale, with coupons, etc.).

Thank you. I will take as many opinions as I can get!

 

[Ardina]

I would also feed wet over dry - definitely the fancy feast classics/pates and maybe other wet food like Friskies too. Though admittedly, I haven't done the research on carrageenan, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[bonepicker]

Thanks for sharing your opinions. I'm just trying to get an idea what other people would do and trying to figure some stuff out. Every time I think I have something figured out, my rotation seems to take another hit .
I was feeding 50/50 wet and dry with a rotation of 4health, FF classics, Merrick rabbit, Sheba and ProPlan True Nature. The Sheba got cut when they discontinued the cans because the "perfect portion" trays are expensive!
Then my cat decided that she doesn't like shredded foods and started only licking the gravy off some of the 4health foods so that dropped us down from 4 flavors to only 2 of that. I was feeding their dry as well so it was worth the trip but now I'm trying to move to an all wet diet and hate making the drive to Tractor Supply just for a few cans of wet food...
Along with the move from 50/50 to all wet, I started replacing the FF with Friskies since Friskies is cheaper and bigger cans.
Today, I see that the price of ProPlan True Nature went up on Chewy! So that is out now too....
I'm left with Friskies and Merrick rabbit here right now which means a very heavy reliance on the Friskies because the Merrick is more a treat since it's expensive but my cat loves it.
I'm just getting frustrated at the idea of having to build a new rotation from scratch!

Try whole earth farms beef and duck, cheaper than Merrick, but owned by Merrick, my cats love those two pates and Merrick rabbit also! Sold at Petco and Chewy.com! I personally feed wet only, I think it is healthier for the cat. If the cats had their choice it would be dry, just like kids and McDonalds. I think ANY wet is better than ANY dry.

 

[MissMolly08]

Try whole earth farms beef and duck, cheaper than Merrick, but owned by Merrick, my cats love those two pates and Merrick rabbit also! Sold at Petco and Chewy.com! I personally feed wet only, I think it is healthier for the cat. If the cats had their choice it would be dry, just like kids and McDonalds. I think ANY wet is better than ANY dry.

I have looked at Whole Earth but their duck pate is very low in calories and the cans are only 5oz instead of 5.5 so I'm not sure it really ends up being cheaper than the Merrick rabbit for that one. I'll look at the beef though.

 

[bonepicker]

I have looked at Whole Earth but their duck pate is very low in calories and the cans are only 5oz instead of 5.5 so I'm not sure it really ends up being cheaper than the Merrick rabbit for that one. I'll look at the beef though.

The cats are crazy about the duck and beef so I thought I would mention it as it is not too expensive with no carrageenan

 

[Lalka]

Because i sometime have to leave for the weekend or do double shifts at work (i want them to still be used to dry food while im gone) i am feeding my cats good quality dry food and a can of good carrageenan/grains free wet food everyday. In your options i would pick #1 so you at least can give them better food from time to time. I assumed that #2 was feeding only cheap food?

 

[MissMolly08]

Because i sometime have to leave for the weekend or do double shifts at work (i want them to still be used to dry food while im gone) i am feeding my cats good quality dry food and a can of good carrageenan/grains free wet food everyday. In your options i would pick #1 so you at least can give them better food from time to time. I assumed that #2 was feeding only cheap food?

#2 wouldn't be like 100% Friskies, but probably something a step or 2 up. Dave's is in my budget and I've heard it's decent quality, though it does have carrageenan.